This application is based on application No. 11-134130 filed in Japan, the contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a print system and a sheet-processing device preferably used for the print system and, more specifically, to an image output apparatus of an automatic vending machine type and a device connected therewith for preventing prints from being taken away by others.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, image output apparatuses of the automatic vending machine type, which output image data picked up by a digital camera, etc., as a printed image on a sheet of paper, have been proposed. Since such image output apparatuses are usually installed in places where a number of unspecified people come around, it is feared that an output print (a sheet bearing a printed image) might be taken away by someone other than the user before he or she knows it. Consequently, it is necessary for the user to wait for the completion of the printing process near the apparatus until he or she receives the outputted print.
For this reason, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 9-179277 has proposed a sorter device which puts a print in a sheet-discharge bin for each order so that only the user concerned can takes the print out; thus, the sorter device of this type can prevent the print from being taking away by others.
However, the above-mentioned conventional sorter device requires a plurality of outlets and some of the outlets have to be placed at positions that are inconvenient in taking prints out. Moreover, the same number of locking mechanisms for opening and closing the outlets and means for providing a display as to which door should be opened to get a discharged print as the number of the sheet-discharge bins have to be installed. Another problem is that since the print should be bent with a comparatively small curvature when it is sorted, paper jams tend to occur.
Here, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 7-230370, a mail box has been proposed in which the locking is releasing by using a password, a warning is given when a finished print has been left for a long time, while the manager is exclusively allowed to access it, and a display of any empty bin is provided. However, this system is assumed to be used in an office where the user can be specified, and is not suitable for a printer of the automatic vending machine type that is used by a number of unspecified people.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the objective of the present invention is to provide a print system in which an outlet is placed at a desired position that allows easy handling and a sorting process is carried out without the need for bending a print sheet so as to prevent paper jams, and a sheet-processing device for such a print system.
In the sheet-processing device of the present invention which is connected to a printing device for printing an image on a sheet, there are provided: a plurality of storage bins installed inside an device frame, in which each of sheets classified for each job is placed; a sheet outlet formed in the device frame; a bin shifting mechanism for shifting each of the bins; an identifying means for identifying a user; and a controller for controlling the bin shifting mechanism; thus, when the user is identified by the identifying means, the bin related to the identified user is shifted to a position facing the sheet outlet.
When the user is identified in this manner, the job specified by the user is automatically carried to the sheet outlet so that the user can get his or her job smoothly without having any unnecessary confusion.
In this case, it is preferable to design the system so that the identification is made by allowing the user to key input a password assigned to the user.
Moreover, it is preferable to provide a lockable door at the sheet outlet so as to prevent tempering.
Furthermore, a bundle of sheets on the storage bin which has been shifted to the sheet outlet may be pushed toward the sheet outlet; thus, the user is allowed to pick up the sheets more easily.
Sheets discharged from the printing device are transported to the corresponding storage bins by the transporting mechanism for the respective jobs.
The bin shifting mechanism and the transporting mechanism are preferably designed so that, while either of them is in operation, the other is not allowed to operate; thus, it is possible to prevent jams beforehand.
Instead of storage bins, boxes for storing sheets may be stacked vertically, and these boxes are prepared in association with users; thus, when the user is identified, the corresponding box is shifted to the sheet outlet. In this case, the user takes out the box containing the sheets from the outlet. In this arrangement, it is possible to handle the bundle of sheets on a box basis, and consequently to simplify the process.
When a mechanism for pushing the boxes out from the outlet, or when the boxes are stacked in a tilted manner so as to allow them to slide out of the outlet by its own gravity, the take-out process of the boxes is further simplified.
In this case also, it is preferable to provide a lockable door at the sheet outlet so as to prevent unnecessary slipping of the boxes.
Since the boxes are taken away by the users, a space may be provided so as to stack boxes the number of which exceeds the number of them that can be shifted by the shifting mechanism; thus, extra boxes may be prepared.
Moreover, in order to easily insert the bundle of sheets in the box, it is preferable to transport each sheet in a slightly offset manner in the transport direction.
In the above-mentioned arrangement, the boxes are stacked in an up and down direction; however, the boxes may be aligned laterally and a plurality of laterally aligned boxes may be shifted as a whole. In this arrangement, sheets are inserted into the boxes from above, and housing units for housing the respective boxes may be prepared so as to house each box containing the bundle of sheets in a predetermined position of each of the housing units.
In this case, a box corresponding to the identified user that is housed in the housing unit is shifted longitudinally to the outlet position, and the box is taken out of the outlet. Here, the application of a mechanism for pushing the box out of the outlet allows the box to be taken out more easily.
Moreover, in the image output apparatus of this type, a considerable period of time is required for printing an image, with the result that the job might be left for a long time without being taken out because of the fact that the user becomes impatient to wait, or fails to come and pick up the job at the specified time.
Taking this situation into consideration, a sheet housing section with a large capacity may be prepared separately from the storage bins, and if the job has not been taken out for a period exceeding a predetermined time, the job may be housed in this sheet housing section.
With respect to the jobs housed in the sheet housing section, they may be stacked in an offset manner for each of the jobs; thus, since the take-out process is carried out on a job basis, it becomes possible to omit the sorting process at the time of housing.
With respect to the jobs housed in the sheet housing section, it is preferable to make an arrangement so that only a manager is allowed to access them.
In the case when no empty storage bin exists, the latest job may be directly transported to the sheet housing section, or the job which has been housed in a storage bin for the longest time is housed in the sheet housing section so as to prepare an empty storage bin in which the latest job can be housed.
It is preferable to install a memory which stores coded information corresponding to respective jobs in association with the numbers of the respective bins. In the case when the job is shifted from the storage bin to the sheet housing section as described above, the number of the bin corresponding to the job is changed to the number of the corresponding sheet housing section.
Moreover, in the case where a locking means for inhibiting the take-out of a job is installed in the sheet housing section, when, upon release of the locking means, the job has been taken out, the corresponding coded information in the memory is deleted.
The present invention also includes a print system as described below: This print system has an arrangement in which there are installed a print unit for making a print on a sheet, a first control means for allowing the print unit to carry out a printing process upon receipt of a predetermined fare, a second control means for allowing a printed sheet to be taken out when a predetermined piece of coded information has been inputted, and a receipt output device for outputting a receipt on which the fare and the predetermined coded information are printed.
In this print system, the receipt on which the predetermined coded information has been printed is issued, and the user can take out the job by inputting the predetermined coded information printed on the receipt. It is not necessary for the user to memorize the predetermined coded information such as a password code assigned to the user, and the user can readily take out the job as long as he or she has the receipt.
In this print system, the above-mentioned various types of the sheet-processing devices may be installed so that the job specified by the user can be positively shifted to the sheet outlet by maintaining the coded information in association with the numbers of the sheet housing boxes and the storage bins.
In this print system, a third control means, which, in the case when a job has not been taken out after a lapse of a predetermined time, prevents the job from being taken out, is installed so that the job management is properly carried out. With respect to the job that has been inhibited, a display explaining this fact is given to the user, and allows the user to contact the manager. The manager, informed of the fact, can release the locked state and pass the job to the user.